Security Corner

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”

PC 1 – User profile: Uses pay-for-download sites to build music library; avoids risque sites; instantly spots “My Dear Friend” emails and deletes them; calls friends to ask them if they sent an email link and never clicks when not sure; knows that PayPal, the IRS and their bank never requests their password in an email; closes popups and scans for malware if one shows up. PC profile: Plugged into NAT router that has SPI firewall built in; security suite up to date; Windows firewall enabled; automatic updates enabled; uses alternative browser.

PC 2 – User profile: Loves to surf the web looking for free music downloads; occasionally surfs “soft” porn sites; has sympathy for the poor Nigerian gal who just lost her father and needs help to move USD 20,000,000 into a safe bank account in the US; clicks links in email; thinks phishing is a fun thing that people do; recently received warning that PC was infected and bought “repair” service via scareware popup. PC profile: Plugged directly into broadband router; AV software bundled with new PC expired months ago, not renewed. Windows firewall disabled by malware; automatic updates disabled; uses IE 6.

By submitting you agree to receive email from TechTarget and its partners. If you reside outside of the United States, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.
Privacy

By submitting you agree to receive email from TechTarget and its partners. If you reside outside of the United States, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.
Privacy

Processing your reply...

About This Blog

Ken "The Geek" Harthun takes the mystery out of computer security. You’ll find valuable advice, tips, and news on how to keep your PCs, network, and data safe from attack by crackers and cybercriminals.